Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for this opportunity to present the 2020 Revised Estimate for programme A, relating to communications, of Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications.

Networks are one of the fundamental buildings blocks of society and the economy. This is one of the main reasons I took responsibility for transport communications and postal services as part of my ministerial portfolio. Providing strong and sustainable networks is key to both long-term economic and social well-being in the current environment and post Covid-19. Our response to the Covid pandemic has shown the importance of networks in allowing society and the economy to continue to function. Our broadband and mobile phone networks facilitated an overnight transition to remote working for many people. The postal and parcels networks have experienced an exponential increase in traffic in response to online ordering. The post office network has facilitated outreach to the isolated and vulnerable and provided a valuable community service.

Programme A covers the communications function. Overall, €157.8 million was allocated to this programme in 2020, consisting of €14.4 million for current expenditure, and €143.4 million for capital. This includes €27.3 million capital carried over from 2019. The focus of the programme is to support economic growth, jobs, competitiveness and social inclusion through a range of policies and regulation designed to facilitate a more digitally connected economy and society. It provides for investment in the national broadband plan, promotion of the use of digital technologies by citizens and businesses and support for digital entrepreneurship.

The biggest item of investment within this programme is the national broadband scheme at €104.6 million, including capital carryover of €27.3 million.

The Covid-19 crisis has made definitive the essential importance of high-speed broadband. High-speed broadband has the capability to transform completely how people live and work as well as where they live and work. It will have a significant impact on the design and provision of future services, from transport to location of housing and the nature of office work. The national broadband plan contract is the largest infrastructural project in rural Ireland since rural electrification, spanning 96% of Ireland's land mass. It will deliver fast, reliable broadband to people living and working in nearly 540,000 premises in the intervention area. It will involve the laying of 140,000 km of fibre cable, utilising over 1.5 million poles and over 15,000 km of underground duct networks. The network will offer a high-speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 500 Mbps from the outset. The current deployment plan forecasts premises passed in all counties within the first two years and over 90% of premises in the State having access to high-speed broadband within the next four years.

With the advent of Covid-19, many small and micro-businesses have found themselves with the challenge of having to shut their physical presence and adapt their business model, with many trading online for the first time. As part of the Government's Covid-19 business supports package for small businesses, the terms of the trading online voucher scheme have been amended and its budget significantly increased from €2.3 million to €32.6 million.

The 2020 Estimates include €1.5 million for Eircode. Eircode postcode usage continues to grow and the postcodes are widely used among the public, businesses and the public sector. In March of this year, the daily look-up limit on the free Eircode postcode finder website was increased from 15 to 50 in response to the Covid crisis for members of the public and businesses locating addresses. As a result, and since then, over 15 million look-ups have been made by members of the public and businesses locating addresses, an average increase of 41% on the same period last year.

The 2020 Estimates for the communications programme support growth and innovation in digital entrepreneurship through the Digital Hub Development Agency and the National Digital Research Centre. The Estimates also include €1.7 million operational funding for the National Cyber Security Centre, which plays a key role in securing Government and critical national infrastructure and will continue to be strengthened.

I am more than happy to answer any questions about the 2020 Estimate of expenditure and investment for the services provided by my Department on this programme.